Cleaning apparatus for pipes and the like



ww-w- 1 March 25, 1952 G. T. THOMAS 2,590,479

CLEANING APPARATUS FOR PIPES AND THE LIKE Filed July 9. 1949 INVENTOR. 650 905 7. THOMAS A TTO/P/VEYS l atentecl Mar. 25, 1 952 OFFICE CLEANING APPARATUS FOR PIPES AND THE LIKE

George T. Thomas, Denville, N. J.

Application July 9, 1949, Serial No. 103,887

4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to apparatus for cleaning bores, more particularly the bores in parts of tobacco pipes and the like.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a device for cleaning the bores in parts of tobacco pipes which become dirty through the deposit of tars and condensate derived from the tobacco which require the combined action of mechanical scrubbing and chemical solvent to effect their complete removal. The device, therefore, provides a fluid applicator combined with a scrubbing element in the nature of a brush or the like and is so constructed and arranged as to inject fluid into the pipe orifice and extract it therefrom simultaneously with the scrubbing thereof.

The present invention comprises further improvements in pipe cleaning devices of the character shown in my copending application ser. No. 652,675 on which a patent No. 2,480,167 issued August 30, 1949.

The invention will best be understood from the following description of the present preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of the device shown with a pipe stem in place, all parts except the bottom closure plug and scrubbing element being shown in central section; v

Fig. 2 is a topplan view;

I Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the bottom closure Plug;

Fig. 4 is an elevation of the piston;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail of the end of the scrubbing element stem which engages the plug shown in Fig. 3; and

Fig. 6 is a central section through the upper part of the device showing in elevation a modification of the piston and sealing sleeve.

Referring to Fig. 1, the cleaning device comprises an elongated cylindrical fluid chamber I0, the lower end of which is internally threaded to receive the bottom closure plug II. The plug is externally threaded at ['2 and provided with an upstanding boss M which may be formed integrally with the plug or as a separate member attached thereto. As shown in Fig. 3, the boss [4 is provided with a horizontal slot l5 and an interconnecting vertical slot l6, each slot extending half way through the boss.

Slidably mounted in the chamber I0 is a piston l8 (Fig. 4) having a circumferential groove IS, a lower neck portion 20, and an upper neck portion 2|. Mounted in the groove I9 is a fluid sealing member or piston ring 22 of resilient material such as rubber or synthetic rubber of the well-known O-ring type. The piston I8 is provided with an axial passage 24, preferably having a flared bottom 25 tofacilitate the insertion therethrough of a scrubbing member, this passage preferably being of a size, at least at its upper end, to receive the reduced neck portion 28 of a pipe stem 29 having the usual bore 30. Surrounding the upper neck portion 2! of the piston is a resilient sleeve 3 I of rubber or the like, somewhat longer than portion 2 I, this sleeve being permanently attached to the piston and being adapted to contract around the pipe stem 29, making a fluid-tight seal between it and the piston.

The piston is retained within the fluid chamber [0 by means of an apertured retaining cap 32, internally threaded to screw on the upper threaded end of the chamber Ill. Cap 32 has a central circular aperture of slightly less diameter than piston l8 so that its top forms aflange 33 which engages the piston which is urged upwardly within the chamber and into contact with the flange 33 by means of a compression spring 34, the lower end of which fits around the boss l4 and the upper end of which fits around the lower neck portion 20 of the piston. The spring is preferably of such diameter in its central portion as to have but slight clearance with relation to the wall of chamber I0 so that it cannot buckle as it is compressed.

The scrubbing member which operates in the bore of the pipe part may be formed, for example, of stiff twisted wire, its stem 35 terminating in a T-head 36 which fits in the grooves I5 and I6 in the boss [4. By spacing the last few coils of spring 34 closely together to form a sleeve surrounding groove l5, as shown at 31, the T-head 36 is retained in the groove so long as the device is assembled. The upper end of stem 35 is provided with a scrubbing portion such as a brush 38 which may be made of bristles or fibres of appropriate characteristics. The brush element protrudes through the axial passage 24 in the piston when the piston is in its uppermost position, as shown in Fig. 1, so that when a pipe stem is inserted into the device the brush element is easily inserted in the bore 30 of the stem, which is then pushed down into the resilient sleeve 3| into the position shown in Fig. 1.

The construction of Fig. 6 is the same as that shown in Fig. 1 except that the axial passage 24a in the piston is of smaller diameterso that the pipe stem neck portion 28 cannot be inserted therein, in consequence of which the resilient sleeve 31a. is formed, as shown in Fig. 6,,so as to engage the reduced neck portion 28 of the pipe stem 29 and the upper neck portion of the piston l8a.

It is to be understood that the length of chamber i0 is such that the travel of piston I8 is sufficient to permit the passage of the scrubbing ele ment all the way through the bore 30 of the element to be cleaned. Furthermore, the brush or other scrubbing element is so formed as not to close the bore 30 to the passage of fluid.

The device shown in Fig. l is operated to clean a pipe stem as follows: The desired quantity of cleaning solution is poured into the chamber It! through the opening in the piston, the sleeve 3! serving as a small funnel. Alternatively, chamber l may be partially filled with the piston and top cap removed. Preferably the casin parts of the device are made of plastic and the cylindrical wall of chamber l0 may be transparent or translucent so that the fluid level may readily be seen. The pipe stem is then placed in the position shown in Fig. 1 with the reduced neck portion 28 of the stem 29 extending into the axial passage 24 in the piston l8; and with the resilient sleeve 3| in engagement with the pipe stem 29 and the upper neck portion 2| of the piston l8; and also with the brush element 38 extending into the bore 30 of the pipe stem 29. The pipe stem is then pressed downwardly against the piston, thereby "depressing the piston within the cylinder [0 against the force exerted by the spring 34; after which the pressure on the pipe stem Ed is released, and the spring 34 causes the piston I8 to rise again. Thus the brush 38 is caused to recip'rocate in the bore 30 and scrub the walls thereof. At the same time fluid in chamber 10 is forced upwardly through the bore of the stem as the piston descends and is sucked back again as it ascends. This reciprocation is continued until the stem is thoroughly clean, whereupon the pipe stem is removed from the device and the contaminated cleaning solution is emptied out by inverting the device. The device illustrated in Fig. '6 operates in the "same way as the device shown in Fig. 1.

The entire device is readily disassembled for washing of its parts by removing the plug i i and cap 32. The scrubbing element stem 35 is readily removable from the base plug boss M after removal of the spring 3'4 so that it can be replaced when necessary with a new element and this feature also permit the use of a variety of different types or sizes of scrubbing elements.

The piston 18 preferably has sufiicient clearance in the chamber it) to slide freely therein and the O-ring seal 22 is so related in size to the dimensions of the cylinder and the groove IS in the piston as to be slightly flattened between the bottom of the groove and the Wall of the cylinder. The .groove is preferably slightly Wider than the diameter of the ring so that the ring has a slight rolling motion therein as the piston is reciprocated.

By obvious modification of the size and shape of such parts as the resilient sleeve 3| and the scrubbing element 38 the device is readily adapted to cleaning parts of the pipe other than the stem or other articles than parts of smoking pipes, such for example as pistol barrels and other articles having bores subject to contamination.

It is to be understood that the foregoing embodiments, hereinbefore described, are merely illustrative and that the invention is not limited to the details thereof but is to be construed broadly within the purview of the'claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A bore cleaning device comprising, a cylindrical fiuid chamber, a closure for one end of said chamber, a hollow piston reciprocable in said chamber, a compression spring positioned between said closure and said piston, an apertured retaining cap removably secured to the other end of the chamber for retaining the piston therein, a scrubbing member extending through the bore in said piston, and means attaching said scrubbing member in said closure,

said piston being adapted for engagement by a pipe part to be cleaned, whereby the piston can be reciprocated in said chamber by pressure applied through said pipe part in opposition to said spring.

2. A bore cleaning device comprising, a cylindrical fluid chamber, a removable closure plug for one end of said chamber, a hollow piston having an axial bore reciprocable in said chamber, a compression spring positioned between said plug and said piston and adapted to move the piston to the end of the chamber opposite from said plug, an apertured retaining cap removably secured to said opposite end of the chamber for retaining the piston therein, a scrubbing member having a stem and extending through the bore in said piston, means 'for anchoring said stem to said closure plug, and a resilient sealing means carried by said piston for forming a fluidtight seal with a pipe part to be cleaned.

3. A bore cleaning device comprising, a cylindrical fluid chamber, a removable closure plug for one end of said chamber, a'piston'having an axial bore reciprocable in said chamber, said piston having a fluid-tight sliding engagement with said chamber, a compression spring positioned between said plug and said piston and adapted to move the piston to the end of the chamber opposite from said plug, retaining means on said opposite end of the chamber 'for retaining the piston therein against the action of said spring, a scrubbing member having a stem removably engageable with said plug and extending through the bore in said piston, and a sealing means carried by said piston for forming a fluid-tight seal with a pipe part to be cleaned.

4. A bore cleaning device comprising, an elongated cylindrical fiuidchamber, a removable closure plug for one end of said chamber, said plug having a slotted boss extending into the chamber, a piston 'reciprocable in said chamber having an axial bore, a fluid sealing member carried by said piston, a compression spring positioned between said plug and said piston to move the piston to the end of the chamber opposite from said plug and having a portion surrounding the slot in said boss, an apertured retaining cap removably secured to "said opposite *end of the chamber for retaining the piston therein, a scrubbing member having a stem engageable in said slot and extending through the bore of said piston, and a resilient sleeve carried by said piston for forming a fluid-tight seal with a pipe part to be cleaned when positioned in alignment with the bore in "said piston.

GEORGE T. THOMAS.

"REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES :PATEN'I-S Number Name Date 400,966 Strachan Apr. '9, 1889 575,065 Lippincott g Jan. 12, 1897 999,346 Simmons Aug. 1, 1911 1,579,039 steffan'tal. -Mar. 30, 1926 2,049,196 Craft July 28, 1936 2,480,167 Thomas Aug. 30, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 4 11,497 "Great Britain 1883 

